Past tense of prefer
regular verb
The past tense of prefer is preferred. The past participle is also preferred.
Forms of prefer
| Base form (V1) | prefer [pɹɪˈfɝ] |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | preferred /pɹɪˈfɜːd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | preferred /pɹɪˈfɜːd/ |
| Present participle | preferring |
| Third person singular | prefers |
Preferred in a sentence
- I couldn't decide which of the pair of designer shirts I preferred, so I bought the pair.From the entry pair
- Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.From the entry primary
- Johnny is such a little waver; everyone who passes by receives his preferred greeting.From the entry waver
- The Temple at Jerusalem preferred Tyrian shekels, since even with Ba'al's portrait they bore highly refined silver.From the entry refined
- She preferred taquitos to regular tacos because she found them less messy.From the entry taquito
Meaning of prefer
- verb To be in the habit of choosing something rather than something else; to favor; to like better.
- verb To advance, promote (someone or something).
- verb To present or submit (something) to an authority (now usually in "to prefer charges").
Questions about the past tense of prefer
- What is the past tense of prefer?
- The past tense of prefer is preferred.
- What is the past participle of prefer?
- The past participle of prefer is preferred.
- Is prefer a regular or irregular verb?
- Prefer is a regular verb: its past tense doubles the last letter and adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prefer (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of prefer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/prefer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.